To Brittney Mae

If you knew her, you loved her. If you didn’t, you would have.

Brittney Mae Goodwin, or Goody, forever and always to me –

The best part about meeting someone when you’re 7 years old is that there are no gaps to fill in the timeline. Every formative step, every struggle, every small success, the family dynamic – the building blocks that create who we are – are never something that need to be explained. When you witness somebody become who they’re meant to be first hand, it’s just different. Old friends are irreplaceable. I’m so grateful to have had that with you and devastated that it’s been taken away so suddenly.

The year we met – third grade, in Mrs. Stockbridge’s class – was the year you broke your arm. Your cast was just about the same size as you but that didn’t slow you down. You were small but mighty! I remember signing it but can’t remember what I wrote. There are so many details I can’t remember. But the memories that stuck with me will be there forever. They’re hilarious and wonderful, just like you.

Like when we crashed that bar mitzvah at the Plaza when we were maybe 9 or 10. We were living out a full blown Eloise fantasy in real life. I’ll be there for a gala (that I was *actually* invited to) on Friday. I hope you crash it in spirit.

Or when you got me that giant inflatable monkey for my birthday one year. How many times did we swim across the pond floating on that thing?

Or when we had photography and took every opportunity to capture our latest artistic vision through the lens of an old SLR film camera. Sometimes the darkroom yielded stunning results and sometimes outrageously comical disasters. My favorites were always the ones of you running through a field in an old wedding dress. We really thought we were artistic geniuses, didn’t we?

If there was one thing you were up for, it was an adventure. But that was just a small part of who you were.

You were never somebody to be labeled or put into a box. You were everything all at once. A daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a friend – of course. But also an athlete, an artist, a passionate animal lover, a brilliant business-minded woman, funny but calm, meticulous but carefree, no nonsense but compassionate. Fearless, intuitive, independent, and loyal. Somehow a lover of all things extravagant and yet still one of the most grounded and level headed people I’ve ever met.

Your family held your celebration at Greystone Castle yesterday – remember our prom there? So elegant. Perfect for a queen.

I miss you, Goody. We all do. Until we meet again, I’ll be putting on my fiercest face, wishing we’d had more time, and doing my best to be more like you. I can’t wait to be belly laughing together again.

Love,

Em 🤍